ARTHUR BRYANT COINS

Pontefract castle was left as a ruin following three sieges by Parliamentarian forces, a castle once described by Oliver Cromwell as ‘one of the strongest inland garrisons in the kingdom’. When this coin was struck Charles was imprisoned, the obverse legend reads ‘whilst I live, I hope’, a phrase that illustrates the lack of control Charles had concerning his own future let alone the proceedings of the war.

Charles I (1625-49)Pontefract Shilling, 1648, siege piece of the English civil war 1645-9, large crown over C R, rev. castle gateway with PC at sides of central tower and OBS vertically to left, a hand holding a sword protruding from right tower, 1648 below, struck on octagonal flan (N.2646, S.3148)